This month a federal court in Maine rejected a challenge to a permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) for the Oakfield wind power project. The court determined that the Army Corps did not violate the...more

Renewable Energy Focus: Dianne Feinstein pushes California desert protection: The Desert Sun - Feb 10:
The political landscape has changed, with Republicans now controlling both the House and Senate, but Democratic...more

Last week, a federal district court in Nevada ruled that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) failed to adequately explain a decision to authorize a proposed wind energy project. The...more

Federal ocean energy managers have concluded an auction to lease over 350,000 acres off the Massachusetts coast to prepare for offshore wind development. Of the four parcels up for bid in today's auction, one was...more

Natural gas, wind, and solar power projects dominated the rankings of new U.S. electric generation placed in service in 2014.
According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff's December 2014 Energy...more

On December 19, 2014, President Obama signed into law the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 (H.R. 5771). H.R. 5771 includes a retroactive one-year extension of the section 45 renewable electricity production tax credit...more

The IRS recently released Notice 2015-4 (the Notice), which provides performance and quality standards that small wind energy property (defined under section 48(c)(4) of the Code as property utilizing a “qualifying small wind...more

On January 13, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2015-4 which specifies the performance and quality standards that small wind turbines must meet in order to qualify for the 30 percent investment tax credit...more

Yesterday, Sol-Wind filed its S-1 with the Securities & Exchange Commission for its listing on the NYSE. Its ticker symbol will be SLWD.
Here is a link to my structure diagrams for Sol-Wind and comparisons of it to a...more

On Tuesday, November 18, 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) announced the reopening of the comment period on the Service’s proposed rule to list the northern long-eared bat (“NLEB”). 79 Fed. Reg. 68657. ...more

Renewable Energy Focus: U.S. solar consolidation seen before tax credit expires: Huffington Post - Nov 21:
The controversial government program that funded failed solar company Solyndra, and became a lighting rod in...more

Environmental and Policy Focus: New dust control method ends L.A.'s longtime feud with Owens Valley: Los Angeles Times - Nov 14:
The City of Los Angeles ended a bitter dispute with Owens Valley on Friday with the...more

On November 24th, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that it would be auctioning off four commercial leases for the Wind Energy Area (WEA) south of Martha’s Vineyard on January...more

On November 12, 2014, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy held a press conference to announce the recipients of the Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards. In her comments, Administrator McCarthy stated that "a...more

An offshore wind energy project proposed off the Maryland coast has drawn opposition from the U.S. Department of Defense over fears that the project would disrupt the nearby Patuxent River Naval Air Station's radar...more

The sunset date for the 30% ITC is coming into view for developers of U.S. solar projects. The U.S. domestic solar market is also becoming increasingly competitive. The PTC for wind has already expired except for projects...more

The latest news on legal and regulatory developments in Africa’s energy sector. This first Africa energy update focuses on East Africa, a region of growing potential for sector participants. Future updates will focus on other...more

With the election on Tuesday, the wind industry’s attention is particularly focused on the prospects for the extension of the production tax credit (PTC). There have been four interesting developments related to the extension...more

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court (the Law Court) recently issued an important decision that confirms the broad authority of the Maine Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) to review decisions of the Commissioner of the...more

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court issued a decision this week that upholds a decision by the Board of Environmental Protection that approved a wind energy project proposed by Passadumkeag Windpark, LLC....more